The Scottish Government has proposed a new legislation for the aesthetics industry which could see non-medical practitioners requiring a license in order to perform injectable treatments.
The government explains that the aim is to provide assurance for patients, with the license serving as evidence that practitioners have been properly trained to perform treatments safely and effectively.
Currently, medical professionals are regulated under Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) and must be registered to perform injectables, but there is no regulation for non-healthcare professionals administering treatments in beauty salons, hairdressers and other similar locations.
Scottish public health minister, Joe FitzPatrick, commented, “We are committed to patient safety and want to ensure that all those who carryout non-surgical procedures, such as dermal fillers or lip enhancements, are competent and that the treatments take place in safe and hygienic premises.”
Currently, the Scottish Government are seeking views from the public and interested parties in a consultation that will run until the end of April.
Fitzpatrick continued, “In the meantime, we urge anyone considering any kind of cosmetic surgery to visit the HIS website for regulated and approved providers.”
Jackie Partridge, aesthetic nurse and Aesthetics Media’s clinical advisory board member, said, “We do NOT agree that non-medics (not qualified healthcare professionals) should be receiving ANY recognition or approval allowing them to put patients at risk, by injecting when they have no medical qualification. Therefore, we do NOT agree that these unqualified persons should be licensed, they should simply be stopped. Any form of license is, in itself, giving ‘approval’ that what they (non-medics) are doing is acceptable.”
She continued, “We urge our fellow practitioners to complete this consultation and to stand up to this proposed idea. We understand that stopping non-medics completely will require a change in the law, and if that’s the case, then we hope that day comes sooner rather than later. Patient safety is a priority and mustn’t be jeopardised for the sake of allowing a non-medic to make money!”
